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How do I go about picking a light meter? I can see that Sekonic seems to be the most popular brand, but their model lineup (and price points) seem to be all over the place. What do I want to look for, and which features make the premium models worth those couple extra hundred dollars?
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Feb 17, 2014 11:35
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The Sekonic Digitalmaster L-758 is, imo anyway, the best light meter ever made. Definitely worth saving up for one.
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Feb 17, 2014 11:46
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I started with a Sekonic L-558 for the spotmeter capability but now I just use a Gossen Digisix because it is drat small but has both reflected & incident metering. You gotta figure out what features you need and what size you're willing to carry around.
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Feb 17, 2014 12:21
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This may be the stupidest idea on the market. Especially when you realize that the camera Sony took the guts from (WX200) is cheaper, smaller and faster than that monstrosity.
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Feb 17, 2014 17:35
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grack posted:This may be the stupidest idea on the market. 
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Feb 17, 2014 18:01
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I stand corrected.
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Feb 17, 2014 18:04
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Ha, reminds me of when this bad boy was the pinnacle of cameraphone technology. Also, of cameraphones being a thing: I actually kindof miss the old candybar phone shape.
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Feb 17, 2014 18:10
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I own that phone and it was really good at being a phone and pretty good at being a fixed lens point and shoot. It still works, but the focusing mechanism in the lens is permanently hosed  But hey, the fact that it still powers on a decade later ought to be worth something.
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Feb 17, 2014 18:15
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powderific posted:Ha, reminds me of when this bad boy was the pinnacle of cameraphone technology. Also, of cameraphones being a thing: I had the W800. It was the best phone ever!
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Feb 17, 2014 18:30
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I had a Sony Ericsson about seven years ago that had an honest to god amazing camera on it. Unfortunately it broke, it was a gift and never came out in my country so I wasn't able to get it repaired.
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Feb 17, 2014 18:30
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404notfound posted:How do I go about picking a light meter? I can see that Sekonic seems to be the most popular brand, but their model lineup (and price points) seem to be all over the place. What do I want to look for, and which features make the premium models worth those couple extra hundred dollars? I have a L-758 and a Digisix, both mentioned above, and they're both great for their respective purposes. I had a Pentax Digital Spotmeter I loved but sold it when I got the L-758. I wanted the L-758 so I could have flash spot metering. I take just the Digisix when I want to travel light and don't need anything more than incident metering.
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Feb 17, 2014 18:32
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grack posted:This may be the stupidest idea on the market. A solution looking for a problem, perhaps, but I don't think it's a stupid one. It's a bit wasteful because every lens needs its own sensor, but decoupling the lens from the viewfinder is not a terrible idea. I sure as poo poo wouldn't stick the lens to my phone, but I like the potential of being able to stick a small camera on a pole and extend it to places I can't reach while still being able to compose a shot. DSLRs have been exploring this idea for a while now.. first with tethered shooting and more recently with wifi connections. Sony was just "well, what if we made it REALLY SMALL?" and tried it.
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Feb 17, 2014 18:58
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I don't think having a camera to hold on to is a bad thing. I really hate trying to make a good shot on a camera phone or even something like an S90. No reason you can't put anything on a pole either.
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Feb 17, 2014 19:10
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I need an external battery pack for my Canon T1i. The battery depletes too much when shooting video. Anybody know where I can get one?
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Feb 17, 2014 19:28
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How much are you willing to spend? Swixtronix makes great external power supplies but they're priced for video pros. http://www.switronix.com/news/174-switronix-releases-new-hdv-powerbase70-for-canon-t2i This unit costs more than your camera I think.
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Feb 17, 2014 19:34
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1st AD posted:How much are you willing to spend? Swixtronix makes great external power supplies but they're priced for video pros. Anything cheaper?
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Feb 17, 2014 20:10
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punk rebel ecks posted:Anything cheaper? How about a battery grip?
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Feb 17, 2014 20:38
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Well, I would be getting a light meter only to substitute for a potentially broken/wonky built-in meter on an old camera, so I think all I really need is something simple (and preferably small and pocketable) that can do both reflective and incident readings. Spot metering, or a relatively narrow cone for reflective readings, would be nice, but I don't know if that particular feature comes cheap. Looks like I'll probably end up with the Digisix or L-208, in any case.
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Feb 17, 2014 20:46
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grack posted:How about a battery grip? I already have that. I need something with more juice.
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Feb 17, 2014 20:55
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punk rebel ecks posted:I already have that. I need something with more juice. A battery grip for your battery grip.
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Feb 17, 2014 22:30
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404notfound posted:How do I go about picking a light meter? I can see that Sekonic seems to be the most popular brand, but their model lineup (and price points) seem to be all over the place. What do I want to look for, and which features make the premium models worth those couple extra hundred dollars? I have a Sekonic L358, and while it's nice and small, I wish I had sprung the extra for something with a spot meter.
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Feb 18, 2014 01:33
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punk rebel ecks posted:I already have that. I need something with more juice. You can buy AC adapters for less than $10.
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Feb 18, 2014 09:23
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I'm planning a week long trip to Iceland this summer. Probably doing some camping and day hikes, so I don't want to carry too much poo poo. I think I'll take a 5d3 + 135/2, 35/1.4 and the Sigma 12-24. Anything else I'm missing? Is it worth renting a tilt-shift lens for landscape shots? I don't have a light tripod, so that will be at the top of my list for stuff to buy for this trip.
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Feb 18, 2014 17:19
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That sounds like a lot of poo poo to me. Just take what you can and work with what you have.
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Feb 18, 2014 17:44
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I'd take a lens that can shoot wide, and a lens that can shoot kind of long (200-300mm range). I prefer a beefy tripod so I suck it up and lug my manfrotto 190 along with me. And a set of filters. Everything else feels (to me) like deadweight for shooting landscapes.
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Feb 18, 2014 17:55
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Yeah, I like wide lens + narrow lens combo for landscapes too. The 35 is just for farting around town, I'd leave it in the car if I went on a hike, or take a shorty forty. Think I'll pick up a 200/2.8 because that looks like a nice and relatively compact lens for pretty cheap. gently caress heavy tripods, though.
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Feb 18, 2014 18:19
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For Alaska I mostly used a 24mm tilt shift and a 70-300 L IS and never really felt I needed anything else. I already had a carbon fiber tripod. I'm a small guy , the light weight made it easier for hikes but your mileage may vary depending on your body type.
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Feb 18, 2014 19:36
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Re: Bridge camera Really had my hopes up for the Fuji S1 which just got announced. Weather sealed 24-1200mm equiv Fast aperture in its class 980K LCD and 980K(?) EVF Fully articulated LCD Samples came out today and they look like poo poo.  I ended up buying a used Fuji X-S1 (X10 sensor in a bridge camera with EVF) for a whopping $250 shipped from Amazon merchants.
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Feb 20, 2014 00:45
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Shaocaholica posted:I ended up buying a used Fuji X-S1 (X10 sensor in a bridge camera with EVF) for a whopping $250 shipped from Amazon merchants. Buying used/clearance is the way to go for bridge cameras in my opinion. At full price they're just way too expensive. You might as well buy an entry level DSLR and crop like crazy (EDIT: this is probably an exaggeration). That said, I do think they are underrated. I started on a Kodak bridge camera that I bought on clearance, and it was quite a capable camera.
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Feb 20, 2014 21:37
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It's just kind of mind boggling that the top end X-S1 is so low right now. I remember back in 2008 the bridge camera concept was at a low point and people were paying boku bucks for older discontinued 2/3" bridge cams. I remember I was pretty happy when I found a used Minolta A2 but I never really used it because it was just so slow and the EVF/LCD sucked. "LCD monitor • 1.8" TFT LCD, 113,000 pixels"
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Feb 20, 2014 21:48
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Wifi SD cards. I'm leaning towards the Toshiba over Eyefi and Transcend. The Toshiba seems to just be a webserver with thumbnail sized previews of every file on the card and allows 7 connections from anything with a browser. Seems like photos don't auto sync to your device when taken, you have to manually pick the ones you want which seems like the most logical workflow. Plus you get the thumbnail previews so you can quickly scroll through the entire card to pick the ones you want. Given the limited space on my phones 16/32G, I'd rather not autosync full size photos.
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Feb 23, 2014 03:39
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Shaocaholica posted:Wifi SD cards. I'm leaning towards the Toshiba over Eyefi and Transcend. Just not goddamn Kingston because each article I read about them makes them sound more and more worthless. Also I hear the EyeFi is pretty much only good for "grandmas taking pictures of Christmas Morning" and are hilariously too slow for anything you actually care about.
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Feb 23, 2014 03:40
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loving all cameras with WiFi should just work like this. No lovely apps. Just act like a hotspot with a webserver showing pictures/movies on the card. Menu page for setting the password and SSID name is all you'd need to configure. Even better if the webpage offered multiple download options for downscaling the image from the native size on the card in case you didn't want the full 36MP image for FB.
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Feb 23, 2014 03:51
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Shaocaholica posted:loving all cameras with WiFi should just work like this. No lovely apps. Just act like a hotspot with a webserver showing pictures/movies on the card. Menu page for setting the password and SSID name is all you'd need to configure. Even better if the webpage offered multiple download options for downscaling the image from the native size on the card in case you didn't want the full 36MP image for FB. Unless i'm wrong, that sounds like it would empty the battery in very short order.
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Feb 23, 2014 04:25
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Shaocaholica posted:loving all cameras with WiFi should just work like this. No lovely apps. Just act like a hotspot with a webserver showing pictures/movies on the card. Menu page for setting the password and SSID name is all you'd need to configure. Even better if the webpage offered multiple download options for downscaling the image from the native size on the card in case you didn't want the full 36MP image for FB. Canon's app is pretty good, although it's annoying that they haven't bothered to make an ipad specific one and you just have to use an ugly scaled iphone version. If it was just a little apache server of pictures and imagemagik it wouldn't support remote shooting.
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Feb 23, 2014 05:09
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Sigma 50mm Art... Supposed first test images... GIEF NAO!!! http://photorumors.com/2014/02/27/first-sigma-50mm-f1-4-dg-hsm-art-lens-test/ (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Mar 1, 2014 19:34
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Combat Pretzel posted:Sigma 50mm Art... Supposed first test images... GIEF NAO!!! How does that compare to the previous Sigma 50/1.4 HSM? I haven't read much about the new one but at first glance it looks longer physically :/ edit: wow its way longer 68 mm (2.69″) vs 100 mm (3.94″). I might get it just to have a new toy to play with the D700 thats been collecting dust for years. Shaocaholica fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Mar 1, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2014 20:35
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Sigma reps have said they are gunning for Otus quality so either its real good or they're just totally full of poo poo.
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Mar 1, 2014 20:44
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800peepee51doodoo posted:Sigma reps have said they are gunning for Otus quality so either its real good or they're just totally full of poo poo. Just looked up the Otus. WTF is this supposed to mean? "With the highest contrast performance over the entire image field, even at an aperture of f/1.4, this lens offers the spectacular medium format look when working with a modern SLR camera." From the Zeiss product page. Do MF lenses naturally have more contrast? That sounds really dubious. Plus its not like contrast is all that big of a deal in the digital age of contrast and local contrast sliders to the rescue.
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Mar 1, 2014 20:47
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I'd figure they mean the field of view and sort of bokeh of a 80mm/2.8 on a medium format camera. I guess the implied sharpness of a larger format sensor, too, since the 35mm format lenses have to work more for it. As far as the old 50mm goes, trying to use it wide open, it's somewhat soft, especially in the corners. The 35mm Art is goddamn sharp wide open, which is what I hope the new 50mm will be, too. Combat Pretzel fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Mar 1, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2014 20:51
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